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Mark Johnson

Mark Johnson is a rehabilitated offender and former drug user, bestselling author of Wasted and the founder of the charity User Voice

July 2020

  • A young offender doing manual work as part of a community payback scheme

    Think renationalising probation will cut reoffending? Think again

    Mark Johnson
    Unless the government listens to offenders about what works, its plans will make the service meaner, not better

April 2020

  • Inside a UK prison

    Coronavirus will thrive in British jails: prisoners face a death sentence

    Mark Johnson
    Social distancing isn’t an option – all inmates who pose no threat should be released now with money, free phones and wifi

November 2018

  • A custody officer speaks to a young offender before a football match at a youth prison

    Children in prison aren’t coping - but nobody seems to care

    Mark Johnson
    Most young people in English jails feel isolated and take drugs to deal with stress, grief and anger – it’s a ticking time-bomb, says User Voice founder Mark Johnson

September 2018

  • Homeless man in Whitehall, London. Gave me his name but preferred it not to be used. He said since he had a shave and a clean up his donations had been meagre. Reads avidly. I’ve told him to do reviews of books “ The Homeless reviewer” . It could catch on. He said the one he was reading was shit.

    Don’t demonise beggars. It won’t solve the problem of homelessness

    Mark Johnson
    People do not choose to end up on the streets. Only by treating them as human beings can we help to prevent it, writes the founder of User Voice, Mark Johnson

August 2012

  • Young offenders stigmatised by society

    For young people, a criminal record should not be a life sentence

    Mark Johnson
    Mark Johnson: It's perverse that Bob Ashford has to withdraw his police commissioner candidacy because of a minor offence in 1966

March 2012

  • Homeless person

    Mark Johnson: inside out
    Why it's OK to give to homeless drug addicts

    Mark Johnson
    If a person living on the streets decides to spend your money on drugs or alcohol, it's none of your business

February 2012

  • David Cameron looks around the Smiths room at Salford Lads Club

    co-operatives and mutuals
    Why the co-operatives bill proposals fall short

  • Young offender

    Mark Johnson: inside out
    Youth custody is failing young people who want to change their ways

    Mark Johnson

January 2012

  • Heroin needle

    Mark Johnson: inside out
    It's time to treat drug-addicted children as adults

    Mark Johnson

    Being a drug addict is an adult problem, yet young people desperate for treatment are being denied it because there are no facilities to help them

December 2011

  • Family in shadow

    Mark Johnson: inside out
    Troubled families need real therapy, not yet another keyworker

    Mark Johnson
    Cameron's plan to rescue troubled families from themselves is all talk and no action

November 2011

  • Young offenders

    Mark Johnson: inside out
    Why evicting families or cutting benefits won't cut youth crime

    Mark Johnson
    Forget punitive measures, the only way to change an offender is from within, says Mark Johnson

October 2011

  • London riots magistrates court

    Mark Johnson: inside out
    How to prevent riots: invest in young people, don't criminalise them

    Mark Johnson

    Prison is the most expensive and least effective response to social unrest. Investing in our poor young people is a cheaper and more humane reaction

July 2011

  • Wandsworth Prison

    co-operatives and mutuals
    Is fear of failure holding back public service mutuals and spin-outs?

    There needs to be an acceptance of risk if a truly vibrant marketplace is to be created, argues Mark Johnson, managing director of TPP Law

June 2011

  • Mark Johnson: inside out
    Reverting to 'tough' justice fails both adults and children

    Mark Johnson

    The government has pandered to the 'howls of the tabloids' with its punitive statement on law and order. What happened to rehabilitation, especially where children are concerned?

May 2011

  • prisoners in cell

    Mark Johnson: inside out
    Long prison sentences fail not just offenders, but society too

    Mark Johnson
    Mark Johnson: The tough US sentencing model appeals to the vengeance-hungry British press, but rehabilitation is the key to tacking crime

April 2011

  • Mark Johnson: inside out
    This appetite for revenge against offenders will never cut crime

    Mark Johnson

    Angry Daily Mail readers should not define criminal justice policy. Further punishment for already abused troubled youngsters will only lead to more problems, says Mark Johnson

March 2011

  • Gown

    Mark Johnson: inside out
    Prisoner rehabilitation can begin with a simple dressing gown

    Mark Johnson

    The government's green paper is a series of modifications to our criminal justice system devised from the top down, but it's the 'minor' issues that hold the key, says Mark Johnson

February 2011

  • 2010 General Election Polling Day

    Mark Johnson: inside out
    Employing ex-offenders is a result worth paying for

    Mark Johnson

    The right to vote has little relevance to many prisoners, but a meaningful job would help change their lives

January 2011

  • Craig Morrison

    Mark Johnson: inside out
    Tragic loss of an ex-offender who turned his life around

    Mark Johnson

    Craig overcame massive emotional barriers only to find that when he was ready to do something significant, there was little chance to do so. Now he is dead

December 2010

  • Mark Johnson: inside out
    Get ex-offenders on board with Clarke's radical prison plans

    Mark Johnson
    Ken Clarke has come up with some sound plans to reform the justice system. But payment by results won't work - ask those who have been inside, writes Mark Johnson
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